Marlins Infield Powerful, Cost-Effective

Jorge Cantu's 25th home run of the year was an interesting one. It gave all four member of the Marlins starting infield at least 25 for the year, a first in big league history. An excellent achievement for any ball club, especially one operating on a shoestring. Marlins manager Fredi Gonzales kept the focus on team success, playing down the feat:

They will go down in history. These guys have got their names in the Hall of Fame. It should be. This was big, and I'm glad to be part of it.

While their offense is nice, they also represent one of the worst defensive infields in baseball (compared here to the Phillies) which goes along way to explain their winning record despite sporting a negative run differential. Sleazy owner Jeffry Loria praised his young team for hanging in this year, winning enough games to secure public funding for a new ballpark.

The Marlins run their team unlike any other in baseball. Free from the restrictive burdens of pleasing or having fans; they are able to reshuffle the deck every year with the lure of big contracts in other cities to get the most out of cheap, young guys or reclamation projects. Each record-setting infielder came to the Marlins in a different, cheapskatey way. Blue chipper exchanged for a superstar, non-roster invitee, rule 5 scumbag and home-grown throw-in draft pick. The Marlins were wise enough to lock up Hanley Ramirez long term (and now dealing with the repercussions), but Cantu and Uggla are both due raises at the end of the year. Most teams would try to find a way to keep this dynamic foursome together, but the Marlins have plenty of other scrubs in the pipeline to trot out in the rain.

(Coke Zeros to Stoeten of Drunk Jays Fans, for the thoughts on the Marlins business model)